No, I’m not in a bid to become the 21st Century’s Edward Weston – that would be not only a disrespect to the man who turned peppers into beautiful, erotic things but it would also be presumptuous to assume that my meagre skills could ever come close to the great crafstmanship of that man.

However, I do find peppers, whether sweet and or hot, excellent subjects for a photograph and I do see much eroticism in my own shots of this subject.

Take yesterday, I shot that photo, having conceived it the night before, in the studio, shooting around 20 pics to get to the one I wanted (and David, the pic I used was, I’m pleased to say, the last one shot, not the first).

Today, I have been tired all day, doing almost nothing all day and even spending two hours when I could have been setting up and shooting one of the “things in my head”, I was asleep on the sofa, while DM worked.

So, it got to 8pm and again I had no ideas and no enthusiasm for my task. We had stuffed peppers for supper, stuffed with a lentil, corn, chilli and mushroom filling, topped with smoked cheddar and baked in the oven. I love smoked cheese at the moment, somehow it really works well for me combined with the sweetness of peppers.

As soon as I cut into the pepper, I realised that I can’t get enough of shots like this…..so, my apologies for my own obsession finding its way onto my PAD yet again.

Compare this to yesterday – today’s shot done in the kitchen, with low-fi lighting (two head torches providing the back lighting and the overhead kitchen light doing the rest). The number of “takes” about the same, give or take three or four.

This shot is, though, of a bigger, more brightly coloured, sweeter pepper with lots more seed. My corny analogy is that it’s symbolising a time in the future where my world becomes less combative, sweeter, more colourful and the fertility of my imagination is back to its full-strength and potency. I look forward to that day and can’t wait to repaint my world red.

Last year, my world was also full of rosy glow!